Relocating employees can involve up to 20-30 different complex processes, while many of the support packages on the market can be inflexible and expensive. Plus, relocating services are usually only available to company leaders, not staff. But an even bigger issue looms over companies today: the ‘great resignation’ brought on by the pandemic, as employees seek out new opportunities abroad. Can offering easier relocation woo them into staying on?
PerchPeek, is a relocation platform that has now raised £8m in Series A funding to address this employee relocation problem – and make it easier for companies to acquiesce to employee requests to move locations. The raise was co-led by Stage 2 Capital and AlbionVC.
In a joint statement, Paul Bennett, Dr. Ace Vinayak, and Oliver Markham, co-founders of PerchPeek, comment: “By bringing all the processes into one platform, with great support at accessible price points, we help both the relocating employee with their move but also their employer provide a high-value employee benefit.”
According to Beroe, a SaaS-based procurement analytics provider, the global employee relocation market is now worth $33.5bn, due to the costs and complexity involved in making relocation possible.
PerchPeek says it has a step-by-step app that supports employees relocating to 47 countries around the world – including more remote locations, and claims it can save companies up to 70% in relocation costs.
It also has experts available via instant messaging, to guide employees through properties and amenities.
The startups’ competitors include Relocity and Dwellworks (both US-based). But PerchPeek says it plans to compete on customer experience and its large range of locations. Since January 2020, it claims to have moved over 5,000 people. Clients include Thoughtworks, Liberty Global, Impala Travel, and INEOS.
Nadine Torbey, Investment Manager at AlbionVC, said: “The pandemic has accelerated the shift in the way people choose to work and live… PerchPeek is the long-awaited disruption that will help unlock the full market and enable an increasingly mobile and global talent pool.”